“Studying Ontogeny at Different Levels Using Geometric Morphometrics – 3rd Edition”.

Dates: May 30-June 1, 2016.

Instructor: Kieran McNulty (University of Minnesota, United States of America).

AAPA members have a 20 % discount on the fee!

This course will provide a basic introduction to geometric morphometric analyses, with an emphasis on using this tool kit to address questions related to growth, development, and evolution. Simple characterizations of multivariate ontogeny will give way to more complicated methods for visualizing and comparing different patterns of growth and development. From here, we will take up the idea of changes in ontogeny as a mechanism for producing evolutionary change. Using landmark data, it is possible to address many of the issues related to evolutionary development, but it will also become clear that the basic formulation of traditional evo-devo models lose relevance in the complex datasets available through modern digitisation and morphometric analysis. We will end by discussing the difficulties and misconceptions in interpreting morphometric analyses of ontogeny, and introduce some of the advanced topics in ontogeny that morphometricians are beginning to address.

A basic knowledge in statistics, Geometric Morphometrics and personal computers is required. All participants must bring their own personal laptop with some software installed (please see our website for more information: http://www.transmittingscience.org/courses/gm/ontogeny-and-gm/).

The course will be held in the Sabadell facilities of the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (Barcelona, Spain) and is co-organized by Transmitting Science and the Institut Català de Paleontologia M. Crusafont. Places are limited and will be covered by strict registration order.